Unexpected Hero
by Hybryd0
Summary: Bluestreak is thrust into a position where he can either step up and be a hero or fall in failure, but failure could mean the death of his friends and if there's one thing he won't let happen it's more friends dying.


AN: This takes place in my little "what if" universe where the Autobots and Decepticons of G1 are Maximals and Predacons and takes place in modern time. I debated about posting this before an actual introduction story was written, but that hasn't happened and I think I've been sitting on this long enough. I had a wonderful beta for this who I send thanks to, but after so long I only have the email for this person and I'm not going to post that. In addition, Dark Hunter and Razorwing are both mine.

xxxxx

Bluestreak threw himself to the ground and lay as still as he could in the cold, wet snow. Every circuit in his body fizzled and he trembled despite his best effort as the shadows of two Seekers flew overhead. He hardly dared to take air into his intakes as he prayed to Primus they wouldn't see him. His red-tailed hawk form consisted of brownish-red feathers that in robot form mixed with silver that stood out in the white of the snow, but if he was lucky the feathers would blend in with the branches of the trees he was hiding under. He listened to the lazy flap of wings as the Seekers circled, obviously watching for any movement.

There was a jamming station in the area. Everything from his comlink to his distress beacon was blocked. He couldn't even tap into the GPS system they had set up for global missions. There was nothing left unblocked that he could use to find his way or contact his teammates. But luckily Predacon's scanners were blocked as well and he could at least be thankful for that much.

"C'mon, there's nothing down there," Bluestreak heard Skywarp complain.

"Shut your beak motor mouth," Thundercracker snapped back. "I saw movement down there."

"Get your optics checked 'Cracker," Skywarp taunted.

"Blow it out your exhaust port, Warp," Thundercracker returned with no real venom.

Bluestreak listened to them taunting each other as the two eagles flew away. The silver mech stayed still until he couldn't hear their wings flap. When he was sure he was safe he climbed to his feet and began his cautious stalk through the trees. It was tough going as he wasn't used to walking through snow yet. Several times his feet slipped and his left knee joint was slightly dinged from all the falling on it. He was trying to go in the direction he had last seen his teammates but he wasn't so good with directions and in his desperate run to get away he had lost all sense of where he was.

As usual the patrol didn't go smoothly and the squad had been forced to retreat and in the confusion he had been forced to run a different direction than the others. The twins were probably still together, but he was willing to bet his left wing that Mirage and Cliffjumper had gotten separated like he did. Homing beacons were jammed just the same as everything else and finding each other was going to be more difficult that it really should have been.

_Stupid organic form. Why did Teletran have to make me a flier? Why couldn't I be a land creature like Sideswipe and Sunstreaker. They have awesome beast modes. What were they called? Oh yeah, leopards. Now those are impressive beast modes._

Not for the first time Bluestreak wished he still had his Autobot body. He missed being able to cover great distances in his vehicle form. Though it really wouldn't have done him too much good in the place the humans called the Rocky Mountains. Plus, his much bigger mech form would have been harder to hide, but he wouldn't have felt so vulnerable.

As he came over a ridge he threw himself to the ground again. In the pass ahead of him two Predacons were patrolling the area. He carefully peaked over and saw the two Preds were Runamuck and Runabout. The weasel, Runabout, was riding the hyena's back. As Bluestreak watched the hyena bucked and sent the weasel flying. That sent the two into a wild scuffle, the area filled with their growls, snarls, and squeals.

While that went on Bluestreak looked around the rest of the area. His fuel pump jerked when he saw a shape just barely covered by snow with red peaking out just enough to be seen. _Sideswipe_! Bluestreak scanned over his teammate's prone form trying to determine if the warrior was planning an ambush or was offline. When he managed to see Sideswipe's optics he realized they were dim and that meant, much to his dismay, that Sideswipe was most likely offline. But by just looking there was no way for him to be sure, but if Sideswipe stayed where he was the Preds were going to find him.

Bluestreak's processor was working on overdrive trying to come up with a solution. He wished Prowl were with him. The tactician could have come up with a plan to save Sideswipe where as he was just a gunner who was not at all comfortable with close combat. His habit of freezing up had put his comrades in danger more than once and now here was one of his friends completely dependent on him. And as scared as he was to face the duo of Runabout and Runamuck, he had to do something to save Sideswipe.

If he did it right he could probably take the two out, or at least knock them offline long enough for him to get Sideswipe out of the area. Except, Sideswipe was a bigger mech and moving him wasn't going to be easy. On top of that, whatever he did needed to be quiet enough not to attract more attention. The absolute last thing he needed was to face more Predacons.

There was only one course of action that he could come up with. It was dangerous and stupid and he would probably get an audio full for it. Prowl would not have approved of it and Prime never would have okayed it, but it was his only idea. He hesitated only briefly before standing up so that he was visible to the two wrestling Predacons.

"Hey, you ugly scraps of slag! Catch me if you can!" Bluestreak shouted.

The two Predacons instantly halted their wrestling match and looked up at the Maximal that dared to challenge them. Runamuck smirked at the sight of the gunner disappearing over the top of the slope and transformed to beast mode. Runabout followed suit and the two Predacons gave chase.

Bluestreak ran for all he was worth, pistons and gears grinding as he tore down the slope. He knew the two Predacons would be hot on his trail and he needed to put a lot of distance between them if his plan was going to work. At the bottom of the slope he continued into the forest, ducking and dodging between the trees. Behind him he could hear the excited yips of Runamuck who was clearly enjoying the chase.

All of a sudden a heavy weight landed on his back and Bluestreak was knocked to the ground and sent skidding through the snow. Panicked he tucked his wings to his body and twisted around quickly only to find it was the weasel that had tackled him. He planted both feet in the Predacon's stomach and kicked as hard as he could and sent Runabout flying away. Knowing Runamuck would be on him in seconds Bluestreak pulled a feather spear and without taking the time to aim or even process what he was doing he threw it. The hyena dodged with a yelp of surprise, but the spear still grazed his side and made him stumble. It was all the chance Bluestreak needed to stumble back to his feet, pull another spear, and lunge at the off balance Predacon, but his feet slipped in the snow and Runamuck was able to roll away. The hyena was on his feet and pouncing before the hawk could recover his balance. Bluestreak shoved the staff of the feather spear into the Predacon's gaping maw and shoved back, but the hyena was stronger and pushed the gunner onto his back. The spear was the only thing keeping Runamuck from ripping out the hawk's vocalizer but it was slowly shredding from the Predacon's razor sharp teeth.

"Get 'em," Runabout called excitedly from where he was watching.

Bluestreak kicked Runamuck's back feet out from under him and then twisted to the side. He saw the weasel coming this time and met the smaller mech with a solid punch that sent the Predacon flying the other way. The hyena used his partner's distraction to let go of the spear and grab Bluestreak's hand. Bluestreak yelped and managed to yank his hand back before the Predacon could really do any damage but he was leaning back enough that Runamuck was able to dislodge Bluestreak. The hawk managed to roll to one knee and pulled a new feather spear fast enough to use it like a human bat against the lunging hyena. Bluestreak then pounced forward and shoved the spear into the hyena's back leg.

"Slagging Maximal fodder!"

Bluestreak spun just as he was once more tackled by Runabout. The Predacon was in robot form and had his crossbow shoved in Bluestreak's chest. Bluestreak didn't allow himself to freeze as he normally would have. He had a teammate counting on him. Instead he remembered the third lesson Jazz had given him about close combat tactics. Before Runabout could get a shot off Bluestreak jammed two fingers into the Predacon's wrist joint and yanked back. Wires and connections severed and the crossbow fell from the now useless hand. With a shout Runabout tried to snatch the crossbow with the other hand, but when he shifted his weight Bluestreak rolled violently to the side and as soon as he was the one on top he reared back and punched the weasel with all the strength he possessed. The crack of metal against metal echoed in the air for a second and Bluestreak cradled his dented fist against his chest.

"Predacon slagheap," Bluestreak muttered, returning the now offline Predacon's taunt.

"I'm gonna tear you apart, Maximal," Runamuck snarled furiously.

Bluestreak turned to the hyena and found the Predacon trying to pull the spear out with his powerful jaws. Acting on survival programming alone he reacted quicker than he would have if he had actually stopped to think about it. He pulled another feather spear and used it like a bat again to send him to join his teammate in offline land.

With both Preds temporarily neutralized he raced back to where Sideswipe had been. His teammate was still offline and half buried in the snow. He carefully brushed the snow off the fallen warrior and scanned over him, noting a few minor tears in tough armor. It was when he rolled the red mech onto his stomach that he noted the damage. Sideswipe had obviously been shot from the sky while using his jetpack, the force of which was probably what knocked his teammate offline. Runamuck and Runabout had probably been looking for the downed mech and definitely would have found him if Bluestreak hadn't come across them in time.

Bluestreak knelt and with a lot of effort and grunting managed to sling Sideswipe over his shoulder. The red mech stirred briefly, but didn't come fully online. Bluestreak struggled under his friend's weight. Walking was nearly impossible and running was simply out of the question. He staggered through the pass and headed for the forest and the cover it provided. He needed to find someplace more secure to hide where he could take the time to do basic first aid on Sideswipe's back. As soon as he entered the forest he stopped to lean against a tree for a moment, shifting Sideswipe's weight, and then continued to stagger on.

And then just as he was taking another step the ground fell out from beneath him. With a shout of surprise the silver mech tumbled down into darkness with Sideswipe flying from his grasp. He tumbled down some kind of slope and bounced harshly off a few rocky outcrops. Then he hit the flat ground at the bottom hard enough to make his optics fill with static for one frightening moment. When he could see clearly again he sat up and was relieved to see there was enough light coming in from the opening that he could make out that he had stumbled into a cave. It wasn't huge, but it was big enough for a few mechs to hide in. There was a tunnel leading in the other direction of where he had so gracefully entered.

For the moment Bluestreak ignored the tunnel and instead turned his attention to Sideswipe. His teammate had landed on the cave floor face down not too far from himself. He crawled over to Sideswipe on his hands and knees and summoned his field kit from subspace. There wasn't much he could really do as he was no medic of any kind, but any soldier, frontline or not, had been given the very basic first aid training. He could clean a wound to prevent infection and prevent the further loss of vital fluids. And so for the next half an hour he worked quietly and quickly, struggling not to fumble, on his damaged teammate. From his best guesses the damage was not critical and there was nothing keeping Sideswipe offline. His teammate would simply come online on his own.

"You can wake up whenever you like Sides, I could really use your help right about now," Bluestreak muttered. "And why couldn't you have stayed with your brother? Why did you have to go a make it more difficult than it had to be? Now I have to keep you safe and find your brother, Cliffjumper, and Mirage while keeping the Preds off my tail feathers. Not to mention figure out what they're up to here."

There was of course no response from the offline mech and Bluestreak sighed. There was nothing more he could do for his friend. He knew he needed to get back out and try and find the rest of his teammates. He was hesitant to leave Sideswipe alone. If anything happened to the leopard his brother would likely killed Bluestreak. But at the same time he couldn't help but think that if Sideswipe got into trouble on his own it was possible Sunstreaker could have found trouble of his own. Not to mention Cliffjumper and Mirage, though Mirage did have that nice camouflage technology of his. Still, he would feel better once they were all together again.

With one final glance at Sideswipe, Bluestreak scrambled back up to the hole he'd fallen through. At the opening he cautiously peaked out and scanned the area for any threats. Finding none he climbed the rest of the way out of the cave and crouched in front of the opening. He pulled two of his feathers and twisted a few knobs at the tip before burying them in the snow. If any Predacons came close to the opening they would get a very nasty surprise.

Satisfied that Sideswipe would be mildly protected, Bluestreak set off on his search again. It would have been so much easier if he could have taken to the sky in his red-tailed hawk form, but there were too many Seekers around. The last thing he needed was to be spotted by any of them. Instead he had to creep along on the ground and watch for Seekers as well as ground based Preds. Little did he know he had already been spotted and was being stalked. He heard a snap of a twig behind him and turned and was promptly tackled. He had just enough time to think how annoying being tackled was getting before claws dug just slightly into the armor between his shoulder joints and heavy weight bore down on him. Bluestreak stared up at the Predacon he recognized as Dark Hunter with undisguised fear.

"You did a nice job with Dumb and Dumber, but how will you handle a real warrior?" the cougar taunted.

Bluestreak continued to stare, completely frozen in fear of the deadly Predacon above him. There were horror stories about what Dark Hunter had done to mechs he captured. Bluestreak didn't want to become another horror story, but he was afraid the cougar was more of a warrior than he was. At the very least, Dark Hunter was much more ruthless and more than willing to do anything to make an enemy suffer.

"Once I'm done with you, I'll go play with your teammate," Dark Hunter continued. "He's scrapped my tail enough times and I think it's time for a little payback."

Bluestreak's optics widened and then narrowed to slits. The cougar could threaten him to his energon pump's content, but he wasn't going to lay a digit on Sideswipe. Not as long as the red mech was under Bluestreak's protection. Sideswipe had saved his aft enough times and he wasn't about to fail his friend when the leopard actually needed protection.

Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves he shoved his fears deep into the back of his processor. He brought his wings forward and smacked Dark Hunter on the head and then threw his weight to the side while the Predacon was stunned. He was on top only long enough to get one solid punch thrown before the cougar kicked him off. The Maximal scrambled to get up as he heard his enemy transforming. He yanked a feather spear out and spun just in time to block the Predacon's energon sword. Bluestreak wasn't surprised to see the cougar using his sword rather than his gun. It was well known that Dark Hunter reveled in the more gruesome aspects of warfare.

"I'm not going to spew those cliché lines about surrendering and not making you suffer," Dark Hunter said as the two mechs circled each other. "No, quite the opposite. First, I'm going to take my time and peel your armor off."

Dark Hunter lunged forward with an overhead swing that Bluestreak easily blocked with his spear. What he didn't count on was the cougar letting go of the sword with one hand to reach forward and snag his spear. The slightly bigger Predacon yanked Bluestreak forward into a knee to his chest area where the hawk head of his beast form folded down to when he transformed. He was then shoved back and he fell flat of his aft. Dark Hunter laughed mockingly.

"After I've peeled every section of armor, I'm going to slowly sever every connection of your wings to the rest of your body."

Still sitting on the ground, Bluestreak lifted the spear and threw it at the Predacon's chest. Dark Hunter reacted quickly and used his sword to bat the spear to the side and then lunged forward. Bluestreak rolled back and caught the cougar with both feet and then kicked him away. That gave Bluestreak the chance he needed to scramble to his feet again. He then fired two feather spears at the still downed Pred. One spear lodged in the upper chest and the second drove through the left leg. Dark Hunter howled in furious pain, but before the Predacon could do anything about the spears Bluestreak pulled another spear and for the third time that day used it like a bat. He hit the cougar so hard that he not only knocked his enemy offline but he also dented the Predacon's facial features inward.

With his enemy at least temporarily offline, Bluestreak wasted no time as he beat a hasty retreat.

xxxxx

Mirage knelt low in the snow and watched as Battletrap hefted a struggling Cliffjumper up by one foot. The massive duocon shook the Maximal roughly and laughed at his helpless prey. Mirage barely restrained a snarl at the sight of his teammate being roughed up. He wasn't particularly fond of the motor mouth braggart, but he also wasn't going to stand around and watch his teammate suffer. But Battletrap wasn't the only Predacon there and there was only so much the spy could do. He was afraid to use his camouflage technology for fear of using too much energy.

"Thought you were tough enough to take me on by yourself, kitty cat?" Battletrap said with obvious amusement. "Your going to have lots of time to learn to regret that decision."

"Blow it out your waste disposal unit you mismatched freakbot," Cliffjumper snarled in response.

Battletrap, far from being insulted, laughed in amusement. "You may very well end up being a mismatched freakbot once I'm through with you."

"Gonna share your toy?" another Predacon, who Mirage recognized as Razorwing, asked.

Battletrap growled. "Get your own."

"Fine, I will," the golden eagle retorted. "I'll get that pretty little mech Bluestreak. He looks like a squealer."

Now that brought up a flash of protective anger that Mirage didn't expect. Mirage stayed aloof to most of the other Maximals. They all knew he would much rather have been back on Cybertron hunting turbofoxes and not being a part of a war he felt they were destined to lose. But despite that Mirage found himself growing fond of the young gunner who could of course be incredibly trying at times and yet still inspired protective urges in most of the Maximals. Especially the older warriors. Mirage was not going to let that feather duster get his talons on Bluestreak.

"What is your obsession with that hawk? That Maximal is a spineless twerp who depends on his teammates to keep him safe," Battletrap commented offhandedly as he poked experimentally at the lynx in his grasp. Cliffjumper growled and twisted, trying to land a hit on his tormentor.

"I like 'em scared and helpless," Razorwing replied.

"Because you're not mech enough to take a Maximal that'll put up a fight," Battletrap sneered.

Mirage watched, hoping to gain a chance to make his move if the two Preds turned on each other. Razorwing puffed up and made a strange hissing sound Mirage had never heard from any of the Seekers. Battletrap cocked an optic ridge and smirked, not at all concerned about his insulted teammate.

"Says the one holding a midget prisoner," Razorwing sneered back.

Battletrap shrugged, vigorously shaking the Maximal in his grasp. "Not many mechs that aren't midgets compared to me."

Mirage summoned his hunting rifle and took aim at Battletrap. He took his time, zeroing in on the Predacon's head for the perfect kill shot. So focused was he that he didn't have time to recognize the shadow that fell over him before talons dug into his shoulders and he was yanked up. He roared in pain and struggled just before he was slammed into the ground. The talons were removed for a second, but only long enough for his captor to transform to robot mode. A foot stepped down on his back and he felt the barrel of a gun pressed to the back of his helm.

"You should learn to watch your afts. This Maximal was about to make scrap outta you," Thrust's unmistakable voice sneered.

Mirage lay as still as possible, very aware that the gun was still pressed to his head. He cursed himself for not paying attention to his surroundings. He knew better than that. And as he heard more mechs landing around him he knew there was nothing more he could do to help Cliffjumper or any of his other wayward teammates.

Before a fight could break out between the moody Predacons Skywarp and Thundercracker joined them with two damaged mechs. Mirage couldn't see what was going on, but he listened as the two Seekers explained that they had found Runabout and Runamuck badly damaged and offline. The snow leopard's processor lurched at the mention of the feather spears that had pinned Runamuck to the ground. _Bluestreak!_ But it was hard for Mirage to imagine the gunner defeating the deadly duo of Runabout and Runamuck by himself. Yet, unless one of the other Maximal fliers had come looking for them when they failed to check in Bluestreak was the only one with feather spears.

"We have to find this troublemaking Maximal and be rid of him. Obviously he needs to learn his place," Razorwing said.

"Where's our hunter when we need him?" Skywarp complained.

"Why? Can't find one slagging Maxie by yourself?" Razorwing taunted. "Especially when it's the coward sharpshooter. That's pretty pathetic even for a Seeker."

"You got a problem with Seekers?" Ramjet demanded.

"No problem," Razorwing's voice dripped with contempt. "I just have little respect for aft-kissing flockheads with one processor to split three ways and no ball bearings."

The Seekers bristled while Battletrap, still holding a disgruntled Cliffjumper by the foot, knocked Razorwing to the ground and glared. "There's no time for fighting amongst ourselves. Megatron will not be pleased if a few slagging Maximals get the better of us. And I will not be the one to deliver that particular message. Skywarp and Thundercracker will take the prisoners back to the outpost while the rest of us find the troublemaker."

"Who died and named you bossmech?" Razorwing demanded.

Battletrap lifted one giant foot and stepped down on Razorwing's chest. Mirage winced as he heard the Predacon's chest plate groan from the pressure it was under. "Question me again and I'll rip every feather from your slagging body and feed them to you, razor feathers and all? Now, if anyone else wants to question me, I'll be happy to extend that service to you all."

Mirage couldn't see their faces, but he could guess that none of the smaller Predacons wanted to take on the big duocon. The foot on his back was suddenly released and he leapt to his feet only to find more weapons than he cared to count pointed at him. He was smart enough not to tempt fate and allowed Skywarp to bind him with energon chains. Mirage then watched as Battletrap released Cliffjumper. The impulsive Maximal lunged forward as if he could really take on so many enemies and was effortlessly batted to the ground. Thundercracker then easily subdued the furious mech and chained him up as well.

"Now, everybody say goodnight to the Maximals," Battletrap said.

Mirage heard a chorus of taunts before a metal fist became the last thing he saw.

xxxxxx

Lost! How could he have been so stupid? Bluestreak could have torn his own tail feathers out for being so foolish. In his desperate bid to get away from Dark Hunter he had failed to pay attention to his surroundings. He wasn't sure how far from the cave he had gotten and the jamming stations meant he couldn't scan for Sideswipe's signature. He wondered, and not for the first time, why nothing ever went right for him. He felt he probably had the worst luck of any of the Maximals and that was saying something.

A sound cut off his mental musings. He looked up in alarm as a familiar roaring sound heralded the approach of missiles He started running again, craning his head around every few seconds to catch sight of them through the tree tops. They were following him easily and he once more cursed his bad luck. He had his head turned when suddenly the ground just stopped. Like something out of comic book he tried to keep running despite having run off a cliff,. With a squawk of fright he plummeted several feet before firing his jetpack. He shot up and barely avoided the two missiles hot on his trail.

"Slagging heat-seekers," Bluestreak grumbled. And he had the absurd thought that he needed to stop hanging around the twins he was picking up their habit of swearing too much before he remembered the missiles on his tail.

He reached up and pulled two feather spears. He turned so he was still flying up but was facing the approaching missiles. He then flung both spears at the missiles and the following explosions rocked the air and he dove away to avoid the fireballs. He then looked frantically for the Predacon that had fired at him. A screech from above him drew his attention and he gasped in fright just before the Predacon swooped down and slammed into his back with enough force to crumple his armor. Talons tore into the jetpack and it gave a sputtering groan of protest, sparking impressively before cutting out. Suddenly it was only the talons dug deep into his back that kept Bluestreak from tumbling to the ground below.

"Hello, Blue-boy, you've been a busy little mech today," Razorwing's smooth, calm voice said. "You certainly are full of surprises."

Bluestreak felt like he was going to throw up his energon converter. For whatever reason completely unknown to anyone Razorwing had taken to hunting down Bluestreak every chance he got. No one understood it, least of all Bluestreak himself, but he didn't need to understand it to know he just needed to stay away from the sadistic Predacon. There was no reputation following the golden eagle, like Dark hunter had, but Razorwing didn't need one. After his first tangle with the Predacon, Sideswipe had been adamant about Bluestreak avoiding Razorwing at all costs. Bluestreak didn't need to be told twice.

"Now that I've finally caught you by yourself we can have a little fun," the golden eagle continued. "You like having fun don't you Blue?"

Bluestreak wasn't sure what kind of fun Razorwing was thinking about, but he knew he wanted no part of it. The talons clenched tighter and Bluestreak gasped, pain making it hard for him to think. He needed to get away, had to get back to Sideswipe, and that was enough to inspire him into action. Bluestreak pulled a feather spear and in an instinctive reaction to the weapon Razorwing released his grip and let his prey go. Instantly Bluestreak reverted to his beast form and tucked his wings and dove away from the golden eagle.

"You can't get away from me, little Maximal," Razorwing taunted.

Bluestreak ignored him as he dove straight for the ground. Behind him he could hear the Predacon following him. He hoped that since he was smaller he might be able to go faster and outmaneuver the bigger bird of prey. He pulled up at the last possible second and his belly just barely brushed a treetop. Instantly he began flapping his wings to keep up his speed and from behind came an undignified squawk and a crash. He dipped one wing to circle back around to take advantage of his enemy's crash. Unfortunately for him Razorwing recovered more quickly than he had expected and popped up, in robot mode, using his jetpack. Bluestreak gasped and wheeled around, desperately flapping his wings. It was in vain. He had no hope of outrunning a jetpack. Razorwing caught him from behind. He screeched in pain as the Predacon grabbed his tail feathers and yanked. It was enough to bring Bluestreak to a stop and Razorwing wrapped one strong arm around his body to pin his wings and then used the free hand to clamp Bluestreak's beak shut. It made the hawk helpless. Nonetheless in his complete panic he struggled all the way to the ground where Razorwing landed with a soft thump and then threw him harshly to the ground. Bluestreak instinctively tried to catch himself, but being in his beast mode he had no arms and instead landed awkwardly on one wing. The wing folded under his weight and sent more pain into his already overloading receptors.

"Now, we're going to have a little fun, Blue," Razorwing said smoothly. "Transform to robot mode."

Bluestreak was well aware of the plasma bolt gun pointed at him and knew he really only had one option. He managed to get himself onto his feet and transformed. As soon as he was in robot mode Razorwing tackled him. Bluestreak started to struggle and then froze as the gun was placed right between his chevrons. The golden eagle used his knees to pin Bluestreak's wings to the ground while keeping the gun pointed right between Bluestreak's chevrons. Optics wide he watched as Razorwing leaned close and he heard the other mech take in a big breath of air. For some reason it was incredibly unnerving.

"Fear is such a sweet smell," the Predacon murmured and the silky smooth voice sent shivers through Bluestreak's circuits. "You might think you know what fear is, but I'm going to introduce you to a whole new level of terror you never knew existed."

Bluestreak's wings trembled and desperately wanted to get away, but Razorwing was a heavy weight on his chest plate and the gun never wavered. His whole body trembled as Razorwing trailed one finger over the beak on his chest and then moved to stroke one of the feathers on his wing. Unwanted feelings rushed through his system and Bluestreak barely bit back the whimper of desperation that bubbled up in his vocalizer.

"I have to admit, I never thought you could possibly take on Double Trouble and walk away," Razorwing said as he began to use his whole hand to stroke the sensitive feathers on Bluestreak's wing. "You're just full of surprises aren't you?"

"What do you want with me?" Bluestreak managed to ask, his voice giving an embarrassing squeak halfway through.

Razorwing's optics flashed and a malicious smirk spread across his face. "Oh you are a naïve little mech, aren't you? That's cute."

Bluestreak felt mildly insulted but didn't say anything in response. He didn't want to inspire anymore insults even though he knew the Predacon was going to continue to throw them anyway. And he was beginning to think he really didn't want to know what the Pred was going to do to him. The humans had a saying that fit the situation perfectly. Ignorance is bliss.

"But all good things must come to an end," the Predacon continued and it was obvious that he was enjoying Bluestreak's consuming and ever growing fear. "Now to see if I'm right about you…"

Bluestreak gave an uncontrolled squeak as the Predacon's hand slid down from his wing, down his chest, and was approaching his lower body when Razorwing was violently jerked away. Neither Bluestreak nor Razorwing had heard another mech approach, but they were both aware of Sunstreaker's presence as the bigger mech slammed Razorwing hard against the ground. Bluestreak sat up and watched as his teammate grabbed the Predacon's gun arm and squeezed. Razorwing howled in agony and Bluestreak heard metal shriek in protest as Sunstreaker crushed the arm. The golden eagle lifted his wings as if to fire missiles, but Sunstreaker was in a rage like Bluestreak had only ever seen when Sideswipe was injured. The furious warrior grabbed both wings and _tore _and that got a scream from the Predacon just before Sunstreaker used one wing to beat Razorwing offline. For a moment Bluestreak was sure his teammate was going to go ahead and just tear the golden eagle apart, but instead the leopard simply threw the wings onto the offline Predacon's chest and turned to face him.

"You okay, kid?" Sunstreaker asked, eying his teammate carefully.

Bluestreak nodded shakily and accepted the hand that was offered to him. He allowed his bigger teammate to pull him to his feet as realization washed over him. He wasn't alone anymore. He had never in his life been happier to see the surly warrior. Though the leopard said nothing and showed no emotions, Bluestreak was sure Sunstreaker felt the same way. At least, he hoped Sunstreaker felt that way. Though that was debatable considering how many times Bluestreak felt like he did nothing but annoy the moody Maximal.

"Do you know where the others are?" Sunstreaker asked as he scanned over Bluestreak's battered form and noted the various injuries.

"I-I haven't found C-Cliffjumper or Mirage, b-but I found Sideswipe," Bluestreak replied, stuttering from his still racing systems. "He was offline when I left him, but he wasn't seriously damaged."

Sunstreaker was silent for a moment, looking up into the sky. Bluestreak followed his gaze to see if the warrior had spotted Predacons, but when he looked down again Sunstreaker was giving him an expectant look. With one optic ridge cocked and his arms crossed the leopard was effectively asking "Well?" without saying a word. Bluestreak normally would have been totally lost by trying to figure out exactly what the warrior meant by any of his silent looks, but this time he knew exactly what the leopard wanted. He wanted Bluestreak to lead him to his brother. And Bluestreak was terrified of telling him the truth.

"I-um--I--."

"You got lost," Sunstreaker cut him off. "Why does that not surprise me?"

Bluestreak lowered his head and his pride stung at the leopard's lack of faith. "Dark Hunter attacked me. After I knocked him offline all I could think about was getting away."

"You left my offline brother alone?" Sunstreaker snarled. "Why in Primus's name would you leave him alone?"

"I-I was afraid the rest of you might be in trouble too," Bluestreak replied nervously. "Runabout and Runamuck were about to discover him and I thought if he had been separated from you that you might be in trouble too and I couldn't sit around while I thought you might be in trouble even if I am just a gunner and not a warrior. And I didn't leave him unprotected I set two of my feathers to detect Predacon signatures and blow up if one came to close and I didn't really expect to be gone so long and--."

"Shut up," Sunstreaker cut him off while giving him a glare that made the hawk take a cautious step away from his teammate. "You should have stayed with the wounded and Primus help you if anything happens to my brother."

"M'sorry," Bluestreak muttered, carefully keeping his optics away from his teammate.

"Keep your apologies for someone who cares," Sunstreaker bit back. "Just keep your mouth shut and follow me."

Bluestreak did as the warrior said. Despite the volatile nature of the leopard and the fact that he had managed to frag him off already he knew he was better off being with a warrior. As fragged off as Sunstreaker was he still wouldn't let anything happen to the gunner. At least, he hoped.

Bluestreak had to work hard to keep up with Sunstreaker as anger and worry fueled the leopard into a fast run. When they reached a cliff face he began to have hope that they were going the right way. He had after all taken a tumble off a cliff when he was running from the heat-seeking missiles. As Sunstreaker stopped just at the edge of the tree line and scanned the sky carefully, Bluestreak sucked air into his intakes to cool his overheated systems. He was doing way too much running and it was taking it's toll on him. Though some of the other Maximals would have said he should have been intimately familiar with running.

"Can you fly me up there?" Sunstreaker asked after a moment.

"If I could use my jetpack, but not in beast mode," Bluestreak replied. "And when that Pred threw me to the ground one of my wings was damaged."

"Great," the warrior grumped and gave Bluestreak a look of contempt.

Bluestreak shrank back and hesitated as Sunstreaker headed for the cliff. When the warrior stopped and looked back at him with something close to annoyance Bluestreak hurried to follow. The last thing he wanted to do was irritate the violent mech.

"Get climbing," Sunstreaker ordered.

"Shouldn't you go up first?" Bluestreak asked and then immediately winced. He shouldn't have questioned the already annoyed warrior.

Sunstreaker stepped up close so that he was towering over the smaller mech. "When you freeze up I want to be able to prod you in the aft."

Bluestreak took a step back from his intimidating teammate and wished that Sideswipe was there to control his brother or at the very least distract him. Bluestreak had never been alone with Sunstreaker on a mission gone wrong and he really wished he wasn't with him now. When he hesitated a moment too long, Sunstreaker stepped up, grabbed him by the shoulder and shoved him toward the cliff. Bluestreak took the hint and began to climb with Sunstreaker hot on his trail. His teammate forced a quick climb, prodding Bluestreak anytime the hawk slowed too much. Once a rock he thought would hold his weight gave way and he had to scrabble to get another hold. Sunstreaker huffed in annoyance and prodded the shaken gunner to keep going and despite his racing fuel pump Bluestreak did as his teammate demanded. He just wished Sunstreaker would be a little more considerate, but that word was rarely in the leopard's vocabulary.

"Slag," Sunstreaker hissed suddenly.

Bluestreak glanced over his shoulder at the leopard. "What?"

"Don't stop," the warrior growled and prodded him on.

But when Sunstreaker glanced behind him and out over the forest below them Bluestreak followed his gaze. What he saw sent his fuel pump into overdrive. Three Seekers had spotted them and were headed their way. He started climbing faster, but he knew they weren't going to make it to the top in time.

"Faster, slag you, climb faster," Sunstreaker ordered.

Bluestreak tried to comply, but he couldn't really go any faster. He heard the familiar _vhroosh_ of rockets being fired and glanced over his shoulder. He had to come to a stop as he did so and he let go of the cliff with one hand in order to line up a shot and fire. Two feather missile intercepted two of the rockets, but he realized with terrible resignation that he wouldn't be able to get off shots quick enough to take out all the others. Instead he grabbed onto the cliff wall again and held on tight as the first set of missiles slammed into the cliff around him. He heard Sunstreaker give a surprised gasp and turned around quickly enough to see his teammate start to slip. The next set of rockets hit just astroseconds later and Sunstreaker took a direct hit that time. Bluestreak watched in shocked disbelief as his teammate lost his grip on the cliff and fell.

When asked later Bluestreak would never be able to explain what happened next. With one wing damaged and his jetpack non-operational there was logically nothing he could do for Sunstreaker and yet despite that Bluestreak let go of the cliff and fell after his friend. More rockets hit the cliff above him sending rocks tumbling down, but Bluestreak wasn't really seeing what was happening. He transformed to beast mode and dove after Sunstreaker. He managed to grab one of Sunstreaker's legs and then dove as far down as he dared, picking up as much speed as he could. When he dared dive no further he forced his damaged wing to work and completely ignored any of the pain he should have felt from his damaged wing. He used all the momentum and speed he had gathered to carry the weight he normally wouldn't have been able to all the way to the top of the cliff.

"Not bad flying for a Maximal," Bluestreak heard as he set Sunstreaker on the ground.

He had time to transform to his robot form before a rocket hit the ground at his feet. The explosion blew him backwards and blew Sunstreaker the other way. Bluestreak scrambled to his feet but a shot to his shoulder tore all the way through and knocked him back to the ground. He heard Sunstreaker firing back and was amazed that his teammate was still online after the shot he had taken. The warrior bellowed a challenge to the attacking Seekers and fired a rocket from his shoulder mounted launcher. Bluestreak followed his teammate's lead and, despite the pain from his damaged wing, he flapped them both forward and shot his four missiles and four feather spears at the incoming Predacons. The three Seekers had to do some fancy flying and one of Bluestreak's missiles clipped a wing, but the Seekers managed to escape serious damage and flew overhead where one of them dropped a familiar object.

"Get back!" Sunstreaker shouted as if he really needed too.

Bluestreak had been in enough battles with Ramjet to recognize his cluster bomb. He got to his feet and ran frantically with Sunstreaker just a few steps behind him. The bomb exploded a little ways above ground and dozens of mini-missiles spread everywhere. Bluestreak yelped in surprise as he was tackled roughly to the ground and a bigger body covered his as explosions rocked the world around him. When the roar faded and the heat was gone Bluestreak expected Sunstreaker to get off his back, but instead the warrior remained perfectly limp atop him. And Bluestreak realized with a great spike of fear that he was once more alone to face the enemy.

"The psychotic warrior and his cowardly gunner," Ramjet sneered. "Or is it the other way around?"

"Can you imagine this little runt being a top?" Thrust said and all three Seekers cracked up.

Bluestreak was struggling to get out from under Sunstreaker when the weight was suddenly taken off his back. He rolled over and watched with growing apprehension as Ramjet and Dirge held Sunstreaker up. Thrust had one of his rifle's pointed at Bluestreak with only half his attention on the hawk. Bluestreak watched as the two Seekers holding his teammate walked closer to the cliff and then stood at the edge.

"You know, only one thing could make this better. If the little pussy cat's brother was here to see it," Dirge said.

"Make the runt watch," Ramjet retorted.

Thrust stepped forward and grabbed Bluestreak by his shoulder and wrenched him up. The hawk whimpered in pain, but wasn't strong enough to get away from the falcon. He was pulled to his feet and pushed forward to stand just behind the Predacons holding his teammate. He knew what was coming and felt completely helpless to do anything. He flipped his wings forward to fire at the two falcons in front of him, but Thrust grabbed a hold of both wings and squeezed. Bluestreak crumpled to the ground with a scream of agony. That act crippled his wings and made using his feather missiles or spears impossible. Thrust yanked him onto his knees and he could only kneel there in the snow and watched helplessly as the laughing falcons threw Sunstreaker over the side of the cliff.

For the second time in less than an hour things happened so fast Bluestreak wasn't even sure what he was doing. He reacted on such an instinctive level that he didn't even have time to think about what he was doing. He managed to throw Thrust into the other two and then attacked the stunned mechs with such furious violence that he had all three offline before any of them could figure out what was happening. And without thinking he leapt off the cliff. It was only after he was airborne that he remembered his wings were useless. So he did the only thing he could think of and he grabbed a ledge. The sudden, jolting stop nearly dislocated his shoulder and sent waves of pain through is circuits. He just added that to the list of injuries that was slowly growing.

_This is going to be a really long day._

xxxxx

"Mirage's patrol hasn't checked in," Prowl reported as soon as the senior officers were all gathered. "They've missed two check in times."

The Maximal Commander's lower face was hidden behind his battle mask, but Prowl could clearly see the crinkling of his leader's optics that indicated a frown. It mirrored the one on his own face. Mirage was good about checking in on time and the patrol had been through the Rocky Mountains where humans had reported Predacon activity. And they all knew how much the Predacons loved jamming stations.

"Do you think they need assistance or are just being blocked by jamming stations?" Prime asked his second in command.

The tactician weighed his response carefully. The patrol did have two highly skilled, and violent, warriors to handle just about anything the Predacons could throw at them. Prowl knew that Sunstreaker and Sideswipe would do anything they had to in order to keep the rest of the patrol safe, but despite their claims they weren't perfect, and even they could be beaten. And Prowl had heard a human saying that fit his thoughts exactly-better to be safe than sorry.

"I think we should send another team t'find out," Jazz spoke up.

"We may very well be sending them into a trap," Prowl pointed out logically.

"We can't sit around a do nuthin'," Ironhide argued. "They might really need help."

"We can't rush into something and put more lives in danger," Prowl reasoned calmly.

"By the time scouts get out there and report back they could all be dead," Jazz returned and used Prowl's game of logic to make his point.

The tactician seemed to take that in with a blink of his optics then turned to Optimus. "Jazz makes a good point. We don't have time for scouts. I suggest a small team go to the last known coordinates."

The elephant nodded his approval. "Very well, take Jazz, Ironhide, Hound, and Ratchet with you. Bring them back, whether they're in trouble or not."

"Yes sir."

"And Prowl?"

"Yes, Prime?"

"Be careful."

xxxxx

For several long astrominutes Bluestreak knelt beside his fallen comrade. As far as he could tell Sunstreaker had somehow survived the fall, but was offline and would probably stay that way. Once more he was going to have to haul a larger and heavier teammate to safety, but how was he going to get Sunstreaker up the cliff? How was _he_ going to get up the cliff? His jetpack was still slagged, his wings were busted, and one of his shoulders was just about dislocated. However, at least one of those things he had a basic idea of how to fix. He would never be a certified field medic, but he had paid as much attention as he could when Ratchet had given his unit lessons in basic first aid. While treating a dislocated shoulder had not been on the top of Ratchet's list, a few questions from Sideswipe had prompted the medic to teach them all anyway.

"I hope after all of this you might be a little nicer to me," Bluestreak mumbled half to Sunstreaker and half to himself. "Though you're not even nice to your own brother so that might be a little too much to ask of you. The others will never let you live this down though, will they? The 'fraidy cat gunner had to save your skid plate. Nothing worse than that, is there?"

As Bluestreak muttered on he used his good arm to poke and prod at his shoulder. It was complete agony having a dislocated shoulder and the only things keeping him from just giving in to all his injuries were the two friends who needed him. Biting his lip he popped the joint back into place and yelped at the quick, sharp jolt of pain that followed. When he was done he flexed his arm and was proud to feel very little pain, though there was still some pain from where Dark Hunter had used his claws, but that was minimal damage and he easily ignored it. That only left him with one problem. How was he supposed to get Sunstreaker to the top with him? He wasn't sure if he could carry him by slinging the bigger warrior over his shoulder.

He was frantically trying to think of a solution to his problem when he remembered that not too long ago Jazz had been trying to teach him how to tie knots the Predacons wouldn't be able to get out of easily. After Bluestreak had practically tied himself up trying Jazz had called it quits and Bluestreak had subspaced the cable when they were done. He summoned the cable from subspace and scanned it and when he was satisfied it would hold Sunstreaker's weight he began to loop it around his teammate's upper body.

"I hope this works out better than most of my ideas," Bluestreak muttered to his offline companion.

When he was satisfied he used one of the knots Jazz had painstakingly taught him and made sure it was secure. Then he looped the other end of the cable around his torso and tied the same knot. It wasn't an ideal solution, but it was the only one he could come up with on short notice. And he really wanted to get back to Sideswipe. Sunstreaker had planted a seed of doubt in his mind and he was afraid maybe something could have happened to Sideswipe and then he would never forgive himself.

He checked the knots one more time before he began to climb. If he thought the first time with Sunstreaker prodding him had been hard the second time with his teammate as a dead weight was ten times worse. His feet slipped several times and once he was left hanging by one hand. But he held on tight with a determination that had more to do with getting his teammate to safety than himself. He struggled on, pain in several parts of his body making the goings tougher, but he ignored it all. Finally, after was seemed like hours to the tired mech, he reached the top. He clambered up on his hands and knees, then turned and pulled with all his might. He heaved Sunstreaker's limp form up over the edge and then continued pulling until they were both several feet from the edge.

"Sunstreaker?" Bluestreak prodded his companion lightly. When there was no reaction he sighed and sat back on his heels.

Suddenly he felt a gun barrel at the back of his helm and froze. "How did a scrawny gunner such as yourself take out so many warriors?"

"Luck?" Bluestreak squeaked. He was scared of many Predacons, but Battletrap was so much bigger than him that he earned a whole new level of terrified from the gunner.

Battletrap snorted. "Luck? Even you're not that lucky, little one. And whatever luck you've had has just run out."

"Y-yours f-f-firstt."

Bluestreak couldn't see what happened next, but he recognized the sound of Sunstreaker's electron-pulse gun firing numerous times. He summoned his beam rifle and sprang into a kneeling position. He cracked off as many shots at the big duocon as he could and then scrambled to grab Sunstreaker. His teammate was online, but in no condition to help him. He slung the leopard over his shoulder and took off running as fast as he could with the added weight.

"Blue, f-follow tracks," Sunstreaker said even though he was barely functioning.

"Tracks? Tracks isn't here."

"In snow."

"Tracks is in the snow?" Bluestreak asked by now thoroughly confused.

Sunstreaker gave a weary sigh. "Footprints."

"Huh?"

"In snow ya glitch," Sunstreaker snarled weakly.

For the first time Bluestreak looked down and saw tracks in the snow. It had never occurred to him that moving in snow would leave tracks behind. He could just follow his tracks back to the cave. If he could find them. He looked down and found that there were indeed tracks in the snow. They were too small to belong to any of the Predacons or Sunstreaker. They had to be his. How had Sunstreaker managed to get them back to the exact place he had fallen from the cliff? Bluestreak set that question aside to ask his teammate once they were safely back at the Ark. He took off in the direction the tracks went going as fast as he could with the warrior on his shoulder.

He skidded to a halt and fell on his aft before scrambling back against a tree as his audios picked up the distinct sound of wings flapping overhead. The gunner was terrified of being discovered by more Seekers. He didn't have the weaponry or strength to take on more Predacons. He scanned the sky and zoomed in on two specks. It was the eagle Seekers and upon closer inspection Bluestreak was dismayed to see they had Cliffjumper and Mirage captive.

"No, nonononono…this can't be happening. First Sideswipe is offline, then Sunstreaker gets knocked offline saving my aft, and now Mirage and Cliffjumper are prisoners. This can't get any worse," Bluestreak mumbled to himself.

"You're going to regret saying those words, featherbrain."

Bluestreak gasped and twisted around to see Runabout standing not that far away with his crossbow pointed at him. The hawk froze, completely unsure of what to do. Runabout could shoot him before he could make any move. With Sunstreaker unable to help, Bluestreak would have to take out the weasel by himself.

"Now, stand up slowly, no don't put the pussy cat down," Runabout ordered. "Now, lead the way to the other pussy cat."

There was nothing he could do but follow the Predacon's orders. Bluestreak began to once more follow his tracks back toward the cave, completely aware of the crossbow pointed at his back the whole way. He knew he had to get rid of the weasel somehow, but he wasn't exactly sure what to do. He searched his processor for anything he had seen the other warriors do that might help him. It was no surprise to him then that inspiration came from the often underhanded Sideswipe.

"Ah," Bluestreak yelped and fell to one knee. Both his hands went to his ankle joint and he held it as if in pain. Sunstreaker's body fell to the ground.

"Get up runt," Runabout sneered. He moved forward and prodded Bluestreak in the back.

Quick as a flash Bluestreak twisted around and promptly fell flat on his face. He cursed his innate clumsiness and wondered why it was that he could move with agility when he didn't try, but when he needed to he always fell on his aft. Runabout's mocking laughter did nothing to help his aching pride

"Oh, you are a funny little Maximal. Maybe I'll see if Megatron will let me keep you as a pet," the weasel said.

Bluestreak was not so amused and was desperate to find a way to get away. He was not going to let the Predacon hurt his teammates. He noticed that the Predacon was distracted just enough…He reached down slowly and took Sunstreaker's electron-pulse gun. Runabout realized what was happening just seconds too late as Bluestreak opened fire. The Predacon stumbled back, trying to bring his crossbow up for a shot, but one good shot through the shoulder remedied that. Bluestreak lunged forward and his feet slipped on the snow, but he still managed to knock the badly wounded Runabout to the ground. The Predacon struggled to hold him off with one good arm, but with another crack of metal on metal Bluestreak knocked Runabout offline.

"I'm not cut out for this slag."

xxxxx

Sideswipe let out a soft groan as his slowly came online. It took his battered systems a little longer to boot up but eventually he was back in full working order. The leopard was a little surprised to find himself in a cave. The last thing he remembered was being shot out of the sky and that the impact with the ground had knocked him offline. Had his brother found him? He found it unlikely. They had reluctantly separated to search for their teammates separately with the intention of meeting back up within one astrohour with or without the others.

"Fraggin' Preds," Sideswipe grumbled as he pulled himself into a sitting position. He winced a little as the move stretched the wounds on his back, but it was nothing he couldn't handle.

Scanning his surroundings he saw a slope leading up to an opening. He debated for a moment before transforming to beast mode. He then used his more sensitive scent receptors to sniff the air. Instantly he recognized he smell of copious amounts of well burned energon, a sure sign of some mech's nervousness. There was also a faint smell of…well…he had never been able to really put a finger on what the smell was exactly, but it was only present around the winged mechs. So it had been Bluestreak to find him and get him to safety. That was a bit of a surprise to the leopard. The hawk was the last one Sideswipe would think able to function by himself in a survival situation.

Curious as to where his teammate was, Sideswipe started out of the cave. He looked around carefully, scanning for any Predacons that may have been laying in wait. He laughed to himself as he studied the tracks Bluestreak had left behind. It was obvious his clumsy teammate had found the cave rather on accident.

A less experienced warrior never would have seen the attack coming, but Sideswipe like his brother was built for combat. His highly tuned senses heard the servos of a moving mech and was therefore able to not only dodge the attack, but retaliate with a swipe of claws to the back. As his foe hit the ground and rolled to his feet, Sideswipe was already in robot form with a blaster pointed at the Predacon. Sideswipe wasn't surprised to see Dark Hunter, but the feather spears grasped in the Predacon's hands were a bit of a shock. The two warriors stared at one another, Sideswipe's optics narrowing as they flicked from the feathers up to the other mech's eyes and back again. He took notice of the damage that had been dealt to Dark Hunter and felt a little proud of Bluestreak for at least doing some damage, but the very fact that Dark Hunter was still functioning meant that the hawk had probably not walked away.

A wide sadistic grin spread across the cougar's face. "Wondering about your feathered friend? Don't bother. No one will have to worry about that liability ever again."

Now, Sideswipe wasn't terribly attached to very many of his comrades. He was definitely more friendly than his brother, but as far as actually caring for them as more than just teammates Sideswipe didn't count very many Maximals in that category, but for some reason he had yet to bother figuring out Bluestreak held a firm place in that category. Hearing from the Predacon that harm had befallen the gunner set off Sideswipe's formidable temper.

With a roar Sideswipe forgot all about the gun in his hand and charged the Predacon. Dark Hunter used his good leg to lunge with one of the feather spear's outstretched, but Sideswipe dodged the blade and grabbed hold of the shaft. With one mighty pull the leopard yanked his prey off balance right before he pounced. Dark Hunter let out a surprised and terrified shriek as Sideswipe laid into him. Sideswipe was a menace on a normal basis, but when he lost his temper he was simply unforgiving. He very nearly ripped the Predacon's whole arm off when the cougar attempted to stab him with the other feather spear. A snarl of rage escaped the leopard and fearing for his very spark the Predacon summoned his gun from subspace. Sideswipe didn't even have a chance to notice the weapon before a powerful burst of electricity overloaded his circuits and sent him into temporary shut down.

"You should have just killed me," Dark Hunter snarled as he shoved the limp Maximal off him.

The Predacon rolled onto his hands and knees and pulled his energon sword with the intention of cutting out the Maximal's spark. He never got the chance. Just was he was raising the sword one well placed shot put the Predacon out of commission. Bluestreak rushed over to Sideswipe and with Sunstreaker still across his shoulder kneeled down beside his teammate. A quick scan assured him no further damage had been done to the warrior and he left Sideswipe long enough to take Sunstreaker into the cave. Once he situated Sunstreaker and untied the cable he went back and brought Sideswipe in, placing him close to his brother. Then he let himself collapse to the ground and let his systems cool down.

Once he was fully calmed down he sat back up and glanced over the two warriors. Neither leopard was online. That left the gunner with a hard decision. He could either wait until the leopards woke up before going after their captured teammates or he could leave them and go try and free Mirage and Cliffjumper by himself. Bluestreak was torn. If he waited something could happen to his two captured comrades, but if he went in himself it was likely he would just be captured too. He didn't have any of the special training Jazz did, but he knew basic evasion tactics along with minimal infiltration procedures. He wouldn't be efficient and couldn't do it with the same kind of style or grace as Jazz, but Bluestreak knew he had to act.

"I know I'm going to get an audio full for this," Bluestreak muttered to himself. He glanced at Susntreaker's gun, which he had been using, and then at the warrior himself. "I hope you don't wake up before I get back."

With one final glance at the two offline warriors, Bluestreak turned and headed out of the cave. He subspaced the electron-pulse gun and went back to Dark Hunter. He then took the Predacon's sword and subspaced it as well. He wasn't particularly skilled with a sword, but he could use it well enough should his other weapons be taken away. He then took hold of the Predacon's shoulder and began to pull Dark Hunter along with him. Once he was satisfied he'd gone far enough he leaned the tan mech against a tree and then used his cable to bind the Predacon completely. Dark Hunter would not be getting free without help.

With that done Bluestreak turned and headed in the direction he'd seen the Seekers going. He knew they were headed back to the outpost he and the rest of the team had discovered quite accidentally before they were separated. They hadn't actually been expecting any trouble in the mountainous region and had been caught off guard by the Predacons. He knew that the two brothers would be kicking themselves for letting Preds get the drop on them. Bluestreak didn't blame them at all as they couldn't possibly have known, however the jammed communications was a clue. A clue none of them had taken as seriously as they should have.

Bluestreak pushed those thoughts back. He needed to focus on what he was doing or rather what he was going to be doing. He knew he needed a plan, but plans were for Prowl to come up with and everyone else to follow. Bluestreak had always been a more act without thinking and then suffer the consequences type mech. Sometimes the consequence was just his humiliation, but this time the consequence of failure was his teammates in greater danger.

Almost before he knew he was peaking over a cliff edge and scanning the outpost below him. It wasn't as big as a base, which wasn't actually that much of a surprise. What the actual purpose of an outpost in the mountains was only the Predacons would know. The accursed jamming station-satellite dish looking object-sat atop the center most building. From that main jamming station signals were sent to smaller towers that spread the jamming area for as far as the towers went. Bluestreak could take out the whole jamming area if he could just take out the main station. The main building obviously contained the control room and probably the security room as well. There were two other buildings as well. One was probably the barracks for the Predacons currently occupying the outpost while the other was probably a store room/armory. An outpost of that size wasn't equipped for nor expected to hold prisoners. That didn't bode well for Mirage and Cliffjumper.

Bluestreak eyed the layout carefully and then watched as one of the eagles, he couldn't tell from a distance which one, appeared from out of the main building. It was obvious the Predacon was not meant to walk in animal form as it was awkward and clumsy. He watched as the Seeker spread his wings and prepared to take off. Without a second thought he summoned his beam rifle from subspace and took aim. Then stopped himself. There was no way for him to know how many more Predacons were down there. Sure plenty of them had been dealt with, but there could always be more and taking out the Seeker would draw attention he didn't need. He scolded himself for almost acting rashly. He needed to think more along the lines of spy rather than sharpshooter.

Instead he scrambled back into cover as the Seeker took to the air and flapped to gain height. At first Bluestreak thought the Seeker was going to head away from the outpost, but was disappointed as the eagle flew high up into the air and then began circling. That meant that Bluestreak couldn't move from where he had taken cover or the Seeker would surely see him. All he could do was lay just behind the tree line and watch the eagle carefully.

Bluestreak heard the flap of feathers and had just enough time to look above his head before he was snatched up by powerful talons. He squealed in surprise and fright as he was lifted off the ground and high into the air then before he could even figure out what was happening the talons let go. With a terrified shriek he plummeted toward the outpost far below. He had only fallen a little ways before talons once more grabbed him.

"Hey Dirge, catch!" Thrust called to his wingmate.

Bluestreak squealed as he was tossed through the air and fell a few feet before he was caught by one leg. He whimpered and despite the urge to struggle he remained a still as possible. He had no means of flight and if he did break free of Dirge's hold it would just mean a terrifying plummet to the ground. As it was he was tossed through the air again and began to fall helplessly. This time he was grabbed by a wing, which tore an uncontrolled scream from his vocalizer. Then he was tossed for the third time.

"Hey guys, watch this!" Ramjet called out.

Bluestreak was falling with his back toward the ground and was therefore able to watch helplessly as Ramjet dove straight for him. He knew what was coming next as the Seeker's name said it all. He desperately tried to get his wings to work, but there was no hope of that. With defeated resignation he watched the peregrine falcon get closer and closer. At the last second the falcon extended his talons and hit Bluestreak at over 200mph, knocking the gunner offline instantly.

xxxxx

Mirage grunted in annoyance as he was shoved to his knees after having been dragged out of the room that had acted as his cell. Thundercracker had brought the spy outside and seconds later Skywarp was forcing Cliffjumper to his knees beside him. He then watched in dismay as Ramjet landed a short distance away with a severely damaged Bluestreak in his clutches. He had hoped beyond all hope that the gunner would not be subjected to the terror of being a prisoner to these devious mechs.

"And here is your would-be hero," Ramjet sneered as he let Bluestreak's body flop to the ground. "As if this pathetic scrapheap could possibly do anything other than runaway."

"I've wanted to get my talons on that little punk," Skywarp commented as he kept Cliffjumper firmly on his knees. "He's shot me down one too many times."

"You lay a hand on him and I'll rip your energon pump out with my bare hands," Cliffjumper threatened furiously. Mirage was mildly surprised.

Skywarp smacked Cliffjumper on the back of the helm and laughed. "You talk big for a little runt. I'll enjoy hearing you beg for mercy."

"In your dreams you overgrown feather duster," Cliffjumper snapped in return.

Mirage only half listened to the two mechs exchanging insults as his optics were glued firmly on the unmoving gunner. It was obvious Bluestreak had been through quite a bit. His wings were obviously out of commission along with his jetpack. There were damages from Seeker talons was well as many dents and scrapes. Ratchet was not going to be a happy mech.

Then he saw it. Had he not been paying close attention to the gunner he wouldn't have seen a thing. At first Mirage thought that Bluestreak was just coming back online, but as he continued to observe his teammate he came to the conclusion that the hawk had been, as humans would say, playing possum. As it was all of the Predacons were focused on Cliffjumper and Skywarp who were throwing an impressive amount of insults back and forth. Mirage was the only one watching Bluestreak and waiting to see what the young gunner was up to.

Suddenly Bluestreak lunged to his feet and sprinted between Thundercracker and Skywarp far faster than Mirage had ever seen the gunner move. The Predacons gave surprised squawks and the three falcon Seekers took off after the quickly retreating hawk. With his back facing the direction Bluestreak had gone he was unable to watch what happened next, but he heard the Seekers shouting demands that the gunner stop. Mirage felt a gun pressed to his head and knew Thundercracker wasn't about to let him use Bluestreak's distraction to get away and sometime after he had been knocked offline one of the Seekers had severed the power cables to his camouflage generator, though he doubted it had been intentional.

"Think about moving and I'll blow out your central processor," Thundercracker growled.

Mirage remained still and listened to the distant shouts and gunfire. Then an explosion sounded from somewhere inside the building. He hoped desperately that it wasn't his teammate getting blown to scrap.

"_Bluestreak to base, Bluestreak to base, we need immediate backup, repeat immediate ba--_," Mirage was startled at the sudden communication on the comlink after so many astro-hours without any sound.

Mirage then immediately picked up where Bluestreak had been cut off, using the most secure channel he could so that the Predacons wouldn't hear it. _"Mirage to base, we've found a Predacon outpost in the Rocky Mountains and three of us have been captured. I'm switching on my locator beacon, please send back-up immediately."_

"_Prowl here, back-up is on the way ETA six astro-minutes," _came the desperately needed reply.

_Too long. _Mirage thought as he heard shouts of anger followed by yelps of pain. A few seconds later Mirage heard a body being dragged behind him just before Bluestreak was deposited on the ground. The gunner was still online, but was significantly more damaged than before. One of the Seekers had shot out both knee joints so that the hawk couldn't run again. Bluestreak was whimpering in pain, laying on one damaged wing, with his optics squeezed shut.

"Let's gut the slagging runt now before he causes anymore trouble," Ramjet said as he glared at the prone Maximal.

All three of the falcon Seekers pounced on Bluestreak and began tearing at his already damaged armor exposing delicate circuits and wires. Bluestreak shrieked and flailed, but the slightly bigger Predacons were too strong for him to fend off even when undamaged and he had no chance at all with so many injuries. Mirage tensed as if to move, but Thundercracker jammed the gun barrel against the back of his helm in a silent warning. On the other hand Skywarp had to forcibly restrain Cliffjumper for just a moment before the Seeker reared back and bashed the lynx across the back of his helm, knocking him senseless. Mirage closed his optics, unwilling to watch his young teammate be murdered by the vicious Predacons, but the hawk's shrieks of agony would haunt him for vorns to come.

And then something happened so suddenly that for a moment Mirage's processor couldn't keep up. A roar split the air and that's when he realized what was going on. From out of nowhere Sideswipe and Sunstreaker had pounced the three Seekers and there was an all out brawl going on. Without a second thought Mirage took advantage of the distraction and grabbed a hold of Thundercracker's gun barrel. With a mighty heave he flung the Predacon over his shoulder, transformed to his beast mode and pounced the downed Seeker. He gave into the more primal instincts having a beast mode gave him and with a roar of fury he dug his claws into the Predacon's chest and ripped with as much strength as he could muster.

Suddenly he was pounced on and knocked away from his target. As he scrambled up and faced his attacker he growled at Runamuck. The hyena snarled back and bared his teeth in a threatening display. Mirage returned the favor feigning a swipe with his deadly claws. The slightly bigger Runamuck growled one more time before pouncing. Mirage dodged to the side and instead pounced on the hyena's back, ripping in with all his claws and tearing the brutally down the Predacon's back. Runamuck howled in fury and pain and tried to buck the Maximal off. Mirage held on with all the furious determination he possessed.

At the same time only a few feet away Sideswipe had finished Thrust and was ripping into Ramjet when a new threat presented itself. He heard the big lumbering bear coming and quickly dove to the side, tucked, and rolled to his feet like the agile big cat whose form he had taken. He transformed to his robot form and leapt onto the bear's back. He brought his piledrivers into play and laid into the bigger mech's back trying to pound through thick armor. Unfortunately, he only got a few hits in before talons grabbed him by the shoulders and lifted him into the air before slamming him ruthlessly into the ground. He pushed himself to his hands and knees, but got no further as the furious Battle smacked him back down. Powerful claws drove into his already damaged back and lifted him up before slamming him back down again. His optics were filled with static for just long enough for the two parts of the duocon to combine.

"I'm going to rip you apart until there's nothing but a spark left," Battletrap snarled.

Sideswipe rolled away from the duocon's attempted grab. He rolled to his feet and ducked back as Battletrap attempted another grab. He then fired a phosphorous flare right into the duocon's face. Battletrap stumbled back with a furious roar and batted at his optics like it would help. A rocket to the big Predacon's chest blew Battletrap off his feet and across the grounds. Sideswipe looked over his shoulder and was relieved to see reinforcements had arrived.

Jazz leapt from the entryway to help Mirage with Runamuck while Ironhide and Prowl faced off with Battletrap as the big duocon rumbled to his feet. The Predacon took a quick look around and saw that his comrades were falling under the heavy assault. He then looked at the jaguar and armadillo joining forces with the leopard. Despite his deepest wishes to decimate the Maximals he knew the battle was lost. Megatron was not going to be pleased.

"Predacons retreat!" Battletrap bellowed.

Those still functioning snatched up their comrades and bolted with the Maximals firing after them. As soon as the Predacons were out of sight Ratchet was at Bluestreak's side.

"Slagsucking Predacon bastards," Ratchet hissed when he saw the damage. "I'm gonna rip their energon pumps out with my bare hands."

"Is he still alive?" Jazz asked, looking over the medic's shoulder.

"Barely," the badger bit back.

Bluestreak's optics flickered open just a fraction. His body shuddered and a little whimper of pain escaped his vocalizer. "Others…safe?"

Ratchet glanced over his shoulder at Jazz, but before either of them could say anything Sideswipe and Sunstreaker knelt on the other side of their damaged comrade.

"You did good, Blue," Sideswipe said.

"Did?" Bluestreak questioned softly, optics locked on Sunstreaker.

The surly warrior didn't even hesitate, surprising everyone except his brother. "Yeah, you did."

Bluestreak's optics glowed briefly before he slipped offline.

xxxxx

Bluestreak slowly came online and with more effort than he wanted to admit he slid his optics open. It took his processor a minute to recognize his surroundings. Then it struck him. He was staring up at the ceiling of the med-bay back at the Ark. He had been rescued. Then a thought flew through his processor and before he could really think about what he was doing he sat up. Where were the others? Had they made it back safely?

He immediately came face to face with Jazz, who pushed Bluestreak back into a laying position. "Stay down or Doc'll bolt you down."

"Where are the others and did everyone make it back safely? And--"

"Shhh, calm down, Blue," Jazz cut off the gunner before he could really get going. "Everyone made it back in one piece, thanks to you."

Bluestreak blinked at the wolf beside him. "Huh?"

"Don't play stupid, bird-boy, you know very well what you did," Sideswipe retorted from somewhere in the room.

"You almost got yourself turned into a scrapheap is what you did," Ratchet barked suddenly. Bluestreak looked over at the medic who had stopped working on Sunstreaker's back long enough to shoot the gunner a glare. "If you ever pull a stunt like that again I'll pluck every feather from you body myself, clear?"

"But--."

"Ah, lay off, Doc. You should be thankful. If it wasn't for Blue here, you'd probably have more patients…or less however you want to look at it," Sunstreaker cut in, then gave a surprised yelp of pain when the badger squeezed a bit of wiring in warning.

"I would only be so lucky to be rid of you two Pit-spawns," Ratchet grumped back, but the heat was out of his voice.

"Love you too, Ratchet," Sideswipe said with his usual cheeky manner.

"Go smelt yourself."

Jazz gave a huff of laughter before he turned back to Bluestreak again. The gunner was propped up on one elbow staring at Sunstreaker with a look of startled surprise on his face. Jazz cocked his head, shot a look at Sunstreaker who from his face down position had no idea he was under scrutiny, and then back to Bluestreak.

"What's up, bud?" Jazz questioned, watching his friend closely.

Bluestreak shot surprised optics to the special ops officer. "Nuthin'!"

"You're a bad liar, Blue," Sideswipe commented.

"Well, it's just…I just…he's never…."

"Who's never what?" Jazz coaxed gently. He watched as Bluestreak's optics flicked to Sunstreaker's prone form again.

Sideswipe had noticed as well. He let out a bark of laughter and thumped his brother on the shoulder. "I think he's surprised you just stuck up for him, Sunshine." He then promptly bolted away as Ratchet threw a scrapped piece of armor at him.

"I didn't stick up for the runt. I just told the truth," came the surly warrior's reply. "And don't call me Sunshine, fraghead."

"All of you shut your mouths or I'll turn your vocalizers off," Ratchet snapped. His features then softened just the slightest bit as he looked at Bluestreak. "Get some more recharge, son. You need it."

Bluestreak let Jazz push him into a laying position. He felt Jazz affectionately stroke his helm, calming him back into a relaxed state. Bluestreak shot him a thankful smile, which Jazz returned with one of his brilliant light-the-whole-room smiles. Feeling better than he had in a long time Bluestreak leaned into Jazz's touch. He then shut his optics and let himself slip into recharge, content with the knowledge that he and all his teammates had made it back safe. There was nothing more he could ask for.


End file.
